Parliament fundamentally changes future political campaigns

Parliament approves modified whistleblower law

Lawmakers on Tuesday approved a law regulating complaints and the reporting of abuses after President Katalin Novák sent it back to parliament for reconsideration. The law passed with 147 votes in favour, 6 against and 30 abstentions no longer contains a section criticised by the president which would have made it possible to file reports in the public interest of protecting the Hungarian way of life.

In her justification for returning the law to parliament, Novák said that a section of the legislation which was meant to provide stronger protections to Hungary’s constitutional rights and values instead weakened those values because it was not based on the assumption that there is a national agreement on them.

Parliament amends election law

Hungarian lawmakers on Tuesday passed an amendment on the local aspects of the country’s election law. Parliament’s legislative committee last week approved provisional changes that would see a compensation list awarded in respect of settlements with more than 10,000 people voting in local government elections to parties that nominate candidates in at least two-thirds of individual constituencies. In Budapest, a party that nominates mayoral candidates in at least two-thirds of the districts would be entitled to submit a compensation list.

Also, it will no longer be possible to call a by-election one year prior to the local government election if the mandate of an individual constituency MP ends prematurely. Accordingly, a person on the party’s compensation list would step in. Further, interim municipal elections will only be held before next year’s local council elections if a campaign is already under way. The amendment was passed with 130 votes in favour, 51 against and 6 abstentions.